Many thanks to one of my very good Facebook friends, Larry K., down in Atlanta, Georgia, for today’s blog idea — it really hit home to me. In my formative years I was the certified King of waiting till the last minute to do anything and everything. Putting things off became business as usual for me. But, respecting the fact that the “last minute” will eventually happen has made me more accountable in my twilight years.

No Letters After My Name

While I have authored textbooks used at two American universities the spaces following my name are naked of any academic accreditation. No PhD, No Masters, although some would say I set new heights for B.S. but I’m also missing that one too.

One reason for this lack of demonstrable achievement in academic prowess is my consistent practice of waiting to the last minute.

I always thought that a 10PM start, a strong pot of coffee, and a couple of No-Doze, would be more than adequate to learn an entire semester of work before the 8AM midterm. After all I only needed a “D” to pass the course. Being an athlete also helped. In the sixties starting athletes didn’t flunk college classes.

Last Minute Christmas

Christmas shopping on any day other than December 24th is simply a non-productive activity as far as I’m concerned. If it’s out there I can certainly find it before closing on Christmas Eve. There’s no way I’m going to stand in the freezing cold at some store’s midnight opening to save $2 bucks on that Crockpot the wife has on her wish list. If the Crockpot’s gone — well that’s why God made gift cards.

Last Minute Car Repairs

When the noise drowns out the radio or if the heated seats start working, when the vehicle doesn’t come equipped with heated seats, those might be a clue to get the car checked out by my friendly neighborhood mechanic. Probably just needs an oil change. Using computers in my daily life I’m pretty well convinced that a computer that diagnoses problems with my vehicle’s engine just can’t be trusted. When they show me a problem I usually suggest they unplug the damn thing and re-boot it.

Last Minute Out The Door

One of my major pet peeves of small business is not opening your front door on time. If you say you are open at 9:00AM then be there and be open. But, during a lot of my early working years the lateness of my bedtime was in direct proportion to how late I would be for work the following day — especially on Monday.

What’s the very last minute that I can leave the house and still get to work on time? That is not counting weather, road construction, having to get gas, too many red lights, train, slow moving drivers, detours, and radar traps. In a perfect world I’m right on time. The world was perfect about three times.

Some Last Minute Final Thoughts

All of us are going to have a “last minute.” Mickey Rooney had one this week. As we get older that “last minute” gets harder to ignore and some of us take stock of our lives.

Are you happy with what you’ve done in your life so far? Or, are you still operating last minute? Those on death row know when their last minute will be and how they will be spending it. Mickey went to his final resting place at home surrounded by friends and family. The bottom line is none of us really know when that last minute will happen. So why not make the most of each one you still have? What things do you leave till the “Last Minute?”

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